


Celestial Bodies Free for Exploration

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: The West Wing
Genre: AU, M/M, Written on a Dare, they're in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh is Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the Western Hemisphere of United Earth, and John's their ambassador to Jupiter. And he might be a bit space-drunk. And horny. (AKA a very pretty title for a pretty ridiculous story)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Celestial Bodies Free for Exploration

**Author's Note:**

> For HAP, who requested Josh/John in some sort of space-faring adventure. So, President on the moon. Check. Awesome beta by the_wordbutler.

The subdermal alarm beeps, and Josh nearly topples out of his chair. He blinks once to snooze, once more to turn off the alarm completely, and then a third time to bring up his schedule. It flicks open in front of his left eye and follows the movement of his pupil so it centers where he wants it.

_14:30 mt; Jupiter shuttle landing_

Next to it, there's a sparkly, animated heart.

"Donna!" Josh yells, blinking a fourth time to clear the schedule from his eyeline.

"Yes?" Donna asks, as she steps into his office. She's in a full space suit, helmet tucked under one arm. "I'm going to that new food cart pod outside, you want anything?"

"No. Why is there a sparkly animated heart on my 14:30 alarm?"

Donna grins as she sets her helmet on the edge of Josh's desk so she can gather her hair into a bun. "Because CJ thought a sparkly, animated penis would make people ask too many questions."

Josh squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. "I thought we agreed the two of you weren't going to talk about that ever again."

"No," Donna says as she picks up her helmet and walks towards the door. Josh comes around the desk to follow her. "You made a decree that it should never be spoken of again, but as we don't live in a monarchy, CJ and I decided to disregard the entire thing and talk about _it_ as much as we want."

"Do you talk about a lot?" Josh asks. "Like, do you go out for drinks and talk about catching me mostly naked in my office with that lunatic? Is this a regular conversation for you?"

"Only when John's due back from Jupiter," CJ says from behind Josh, and he yelps and jumps and clutches at his chest. "Really?" CJ asks. "You just did that?"

"Shut up. You're terrifying," Josh replies. There are three junior staffers watching the entire exchange, and Josh glares at them. "You! Back to work!" They scatter. He turns back to CJ and Donna and realizes CJ is also in a space suit. "Where are you going?"

"To the food cart pod outside," CJ replies.

"I told him," Donna says. "He doesn't listen."

"Well, he's already distracted, probably," CJ says, and they leave Josh gaping after them trying to come up with a retort as they step into the airlock.

"I want Falafel!" he yells as the airlock hisses shut.

CJ leans over and presses the button on the intercom. "You want more than that," she says, and Josh can hear Donna's giggle even through her helmet.

"You're fired!" he says, pointing at Donna.

She rolls her eyes as she and CJ turn around and wait for the airlock to open on the other side.

"Falafel!" Josh yells again.

"Oh, are they going to the new food cart pod?" Sam asks, coming up from Josh's left. He has a speech open in front of his eye, making notations with a fingertip as he walks down the hall.

"Yeah," Josh says. "Hey, what time is it?"

Sam blinks, and a clock flashes over the speech for a moment. "14:27 mt." He touches his fingertips together, and the speech shrinks to the size of a post it, hovering down below his field of vision. He turns to Josh and gives him a grin. "I'm surprised you're still wearing pants."

"Oh, come on!" Josh says throwing up his hands. "Not you, too."

"It's cute in a horrifying, too-much-information way," Sam replies, completely unimpressed with Josh's outburst. "And really, it's not all that much different from how he's always been with you--"

"Untrue!" Josh declares. "Un. True. There was a point when we were merely acquaintances."

"Uh-huh," Sam says. "And I've got a base on Saturn to sell you."

"Shut up. Go away. We're not friends anymore."

"I'm going to the food cart pod," Sam says. "You want anything?"

"I told Donna to bring me back falafel."

"I'll bring you back falafel," Sam says after a beat.

"Thanks," Josh says and goes back to his office.

He's just closing the door behind him when two hands slide around his waist and pull him back. "The shades are still open," he says.

"So?" John asks.

"You're technically here as the Ambassador to Jupiter, so maybe keep your hands to yourself for a minute," Josh replies. He grabs John's hands before John can fully twist his fingers into Josh's belt loops. "Stay," Josh orders. John drops his hands and rocks back on his heels. Josh closes the blinds and turns to look at him again. John's tie is already gone, the top two buttons on his shirt open. He's watching Josh with clear pleasure, smiling softly, his hair falling across his forehead.

"Oh, Joshua," John says as he advances. "How I've missed you."

"I'm sure the fumes have nothing to do with that," Josh mutters. He expects John to kiss him on the mouth like he always does after coming back from Jupiter--hot, demanding, biting a little too hard at his bottom lip. But John doesn't. He ducks his head, presses his open mouth just above the pulse point on Josh's neck, and Josh has to grab John's shoulders to keep from collapsing at the feel of it. "Cheater," he manages to get out.

John laughs against his throat. "Imbibed on Jupitarian fumes, yes. But a cheater, Joshua, really." He strokes one hand down Josh’s side; with the other, he reaches for the control panel by the door.

“You are not turning off the gravity,” Josh says, grabbing John’s hand and interlacing their fingers so John can’t break free without some effort. “Donna and CJ decided I needed a sparkly animated heart next to the shuttle reminder because they caught us last time. Because we floated above the blinds. Because you turned off the gravity.”

John pulls back and looks Josh in the eyes. He has wavy yellow rings around his irises, a sure sign he’s had a healthy amount of fumes off Jupiter’s third moon. “You have me in your calendar?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Josh replies. He tilts John’s head back. There are tiny blue dots in the inside corners of his eyes. “How many hits off the pipe did you take?”

John tucks his thumbs into Josh’s belt loops and tugs him an inch closer. “Really, Joshua, you talk as though they’re dangerous to enjoy. You know as well as I that every test done on the fumes of Jupiter have shown them to be completely harmless and a great deal of fun. Much like myself, really.”

“The day you’re completely harmless is the day you become useless to this administration,” Josh replies. He grins when John smacks his ass in punishment. “Why are you surprised I have you in my calendar?” he asks as John nudges his legs apart with a knee and then gives him a push so he’ll fall back on the couch.

“Your calendar is generally filled with affairs of state,” John says as he looms over Josh and stares into his eyes. The blue dots are mostly faded already, but the yellow is still bright. He’s coming down from the giddiness, but the handsy sentimentality is still going strong.

“I’m the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the Western Hemisphere of United Earth, and you’re the Western Hemisphere of United Earth’s ambassador to Jupiter. We’re the embodiment of an affair of state.”

“That is an awful pun,” John says, but he still kisses Josh, sinks down next to him on the couch, and undoes his belt.

“I’m not at my best,” Josh murmurs, working on John’s belt. “Sparkly animated hearts and everything.”

“Hey I--OH GOD!” Sam screams, and there’s a ‘thud’ and the hard slam of Josh’s office door, and by the time Josh jerks around, the only proof Sam has actually been in the room is the container of falafel floating merrily two inches above the ground.

“Hey, he got me the drop-proof container,” Josh says. “That’s nice.” John bites his neck. “Yeah, yeah, I see you there.”

“Wouldn’t want to ignore an affair of state, Joshua.”

The next time John comes back from Jupiter, it _is_ a sparkly, animated penis, and Josh gets annoyed when the press room doesn’t even ask.

“My affairs of state are too well known,” he tells Sam.

“Well, you’re a public figure. It’s good to be transparent,” Sam replies.


End file.
